1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an installation for purifying liquids by membrane filtration comprising a liquid inlet chamber and a liquid outlet chamber, both comprising a pipe plate, comprising at least one opening leading into a tubular filtration membrane. At least one support pipe for accommodates a fibrous tube with a filtration membrane and a permeate outlet. The end portion of each membrane at its free inner side is surrounded by a tubular sealing sleeve which is integral with a sealing flange extending beside the opening and which co-operates with the surface of the pipe plate and part of a liquid inlet and/or liquid outlet chamber wall.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An installation of this kind for purifying liquids by membrane filtration has been used in the art. In this known installation the liquid inlet and outlet chamber comprise a bottom pipe plate being integral with the wall of the liquid chamber. In order to obtain a good seal the sealing flange extending beside the tubular sealing sleeve(s) and co-operating with the pipe plate, is provided with a tapering circumferential wall portion extending upwardly with respect to the flange and co-operating with the inner wall of the liquid chamber. A sealing ring is disposed in a recess of the tapering circumferential wall portion of the sealing flange for obtaining a good sealing.
The known installation presents the drawback in that the seal between the inner wall of the liquid chamber and the circumferential wall portion of the sealing flange is unreliable, even when a separate sealing ring is provided between the two parts. Moreover, providing a sealing ring of this kind is very laborious.